


Watchdog biology

by National_quinnspiration



Category: Wander Over Yonder
Genre: Gen, Outing, Trans Character, but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 09:24:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5534621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/National_quinnspiration/pseuds/National_quinnspiration
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peepers was male. He knew he was. He just didn't have a lot of proof to back up that statement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watchdog biology

Commander Peepers lets out a contented sigh as he steps out of the shower. He'd been busy the last couple weeks. The new planetary take overs he had been supervising had taken up most of his time.

This was the first time in a while Peepers had slowed down enough to have a long, pleasurable shower.

“Mmmm” Peepers makes a small relaxed sound. he stretched and pulled his towel off, letting it slide onto the floor. He felt good, a nice ache in his limbs from his workout before. This was the way to start a day. He rolls his neck and stretches his pupil wide in a yawn. Then Peepers crosses the room to find a fresh uniform.

The door slides open and Lord Hater burst in, yelling “peepers! I need you to-”

Then lord Hater stops short, staring at him. Peepers froze like an eyeball in the headlights.

Lord Hater is here and he is naked. Oh no.

For five seconds that feels an eternity to Peepers, they just stand there, staring at each other.

Then Hater’s mouth falls open in horror and his hand flies up to cover his eyes. At the same time Peepers comes to his senses, arms moving to cover himself.

“You're not wearing any clothes!” Hater shrieks, turning his back is toward Peepers.

“I just got out of the shower!” Peepers screams, ducking across the room to grab the towel he'd abandoned on the floor. There's an undercurrent of terror in his mind. Hater has seen him. he knows. Oh glorp.

“So you just walk around naked?!” Hater screams scandalized.

“It’s my room!” Peepers yells back.

There’s a pause.

“Uh, yeah right.” Hater says stiffly. “I- um. I'm gonna go now”. Hater still has his hand over his face, even though he's facing the other way. So when he heads toward the door, his shoulder bangs into the door frame.Hater almost falls over catching himself on both his hands. his uncovered eyes meet peepers’.

“Okay, yeah. Comeseemewhenyourdonechangingbye.” Hater yells as he jumps up and runs out of the room, clearly embarrassed. The door slides closed behind him.  
Come see me when you're done. Hater words sink in. Oh no. Oh no oh no. Oh no.

No one had known about him. No one had known about how, underneath his clothes, Peepers wasn't like the other male watch dogs.  
Peepers was male. He knew he was. He just didn't have a lot of proof to back up that statement.

He had always know. Long before the watchdogs had started working for lord hater. He wasn't well known in the Watchdog group. There was so many of them living together. He was just the weird kid that screamed a lot. Peepers wasn't close enough to anyone to talk to them about what was going on with him.

Luckily for him Watchdogs didn't have a lot of gender differentiating traits. Practically none that weren't hidden by clothes. There was body shape. Peepers was top heavy, with a wide chest to support the formation of teats should he ever get pregnant. But lots of the younger watchdog were skinny and lanky in odd places, it wasn’t that unusual.  
He had started presenting more masculinity. he was pretty neutral already so it wasn't much of a change. He wore clothes that were loose around the hips to hide his figure. He worked out a lot, putting on weight and muscle.

there were thousands upon thousands of Watchdogs. less than a dozen knew him well enough to remember his birth name, Lillian.  
He stops talking to them. Actively avoids them so he doesn't have to hear ‘she’ in his context. He becomes even more anonymous than he already was, just another eye in the crowd.

More than half of the strangers he interacts with mistakes (or identifies?) Him for a boy.

He's lonely but he's fine.

Then lord hater comes into his life. He offers to hire them, all of them that want to. Real employment, with wages and benefits and everything.  
One of the first things he asks for is someone to be his second in command. Someone take the Watchdogs talents and put them toward lord hater's goal. Someone who actually knows what Watchdogs need.

“This person will be a respected leader” lord hater had said. “But the will also have one of the hardest jobs, with a huge work load. Not just anyone can handle it. Volunteers?”

And just like that he had known that's what he wanted to do. He pushed forward and said “I do!”

He was even smaller back then, just some puny kid who no one knew but hater just grinned and said “great! What's your name?”  
A name. He couldn't say Lillian. That hadn't been his name in a while. But he had never given himself a new name.

“Peepers!” He blurts out the first thing he thinks of. And just like that he's commander.

Well not just like that. There were other volunteers of course but he wastes the competition.

Peepers (Peepers! That's his name now), he's scrappy and a quick learner and most of all extremely determined. Anything hater need done he just tells peepers and he figures out how to do it. Haters amazing and Peepers works till he can’t walk and together they build an empire.

Peepers discovers there are others like him. after the medical and watchdog resources departments are formed. There are other Watchdogs who identify as what they know they are. despite what others say their bodies mean.

The first he meets is Louise, a woman who's harassed by her co-workers about her gender identity. She'd talked to Watchdog resources several times. they didn't know what to do with her so she had come to him for help. There were a stream of coming outs after that. Watchdogs who wanted help dealing with prejudice, or with their transition.

He hadn't actually know a lot of the stuff they were talking about. He did research and discovered that his was not the only species this phenomenon occurred in. there were Trans (it has a name!) people on many planets, with varied levels of acceptance.

Peepers made his opinions clear. All Watchdogs were equal. regardless of gender identity and any act otherwise was not only stupid but punishable. He even had a research team work on synthesizing hormones. though that wasn't entirely selfless.

There’s a particularly well paid nurse. Gregory, who provides him with weekly shots of Watchdog male hormone and doesn’t ask questions. It’s a part of his job to get Peepers whatever he asks for. The bonuses are more for Greg staying quiet about having given the shots to him, no records, and no gossip. there aren't a lot of things one can do with the hormone shots. it’d be pretty obvious to anyone reviewing his prescriptions what Peepers was using them for.

He tried his best to protect the out ones but he couldn’t do everything. he couldn’t stop people from talking, and couldn’t stop ‘pranks’ and ‘accidents’. At one point there had been just under two dozen trans Watchdogs on the ship. Now there were three, including him. Most had quit. Louise had been found bleeding out in a bathtub. She hadn’t made it.

He had never come out to anyone, not even the other trans Watchdogs. He hadn't wanted to then, felt it was the wrong time. But now he keeps it a secret to protect himself. No one would outright do anything to harm him. unless they were planning a mutiny. or went past him straight to lord hater and told him about it (one of his worst fears).

No, most likely people would just talk. spread rumors, and say things with hideous cloaked undertones to him. People would whisper about him, about his body, about his ability to do his job, to lead them. Respect for him would plummet under the weight of suspicions and prejudice.He would have to work twice as hard to get anything done with uncooperative soldiers. His life would become miserable and even more stressed than it already is.

It not like Peepers couldn’t handle that. He could. He just really didn't want to.

But he has to now because Lord Hater, the last person Peepers ever wanted to know, knows. Hater had wanted to talk to him about it. As soon as Peepers was done changing.   
Maybe hater hadn't seen, had turned around too quick to notice. Peepers knows it's a false hope. There had been plenty enough staring for Hater to know.

But Hater didn’t seem angry, just surprised and freaked out. But maybe he was too in shock to be immediately angry. Maybe Hater was angry now, anger building as he waited somewhere. Maybe Hater would accuse him of lying, of taking advantage of him. Maybe Hater would out him in front of all the watchdogs. Maybe Hater would kill him. Or fire him.

No stop, Peepers thought to himself. There’s no good staying here letting his anxieties mount. All that comes from that is him getting too scared to face hater and leaving the ship forever. And then he’ll never know what lord hater going to say.

Can't have that. 

It was decided then. Peepers pulls on his clothes and helmet and sets off toward lord hater before he can lose his nerve.

Lord Haters in his throne room, half-heartedly playing a video game on the giant screen. There’s no one else there. Peepers doesn't know whether that's a good sign.

Hater jumps when peepers clears his throat from the doorway. Hater was sitting sideways in the chair, feet over one arm, back against the other. So he only has to turn his head away from the screen to face Peepers.

“Uh, hey” Hater says, flailing to pause his game.

Peepers decides to start, taking a deep breath and striding toward Lord Hater as he talks. “Listen, sir. I am really sorry about before-”

“Oh, no. it's not-” Lord Hater interrupts before Peepers interrupts him back. He need to get through this. He needs Hater to hear what he has to say before Hater makes any decisions. Providing he hadn’t decided already.

“Lord Hater, sir. I just wanted to say that I never lied to you. I can't help this it’s just the way I am. I hope this doesn't make you think less of me and I really hope you decide not to fire me.”

“Wait. what?” Hater say. He moves to sit on his legs so he can lean over the thrown arm to look Peepers in the eye. “Why would I fire you when I walked in on you naked?”  
That was not the response peepers was expecting. Was this acceptance?

“I mean, yeah it was embarrassing” Hater says rubbing the back of his neck. “But I’m not gonna fire you over it, geez”

Peepers is confused, why’s hater not mentioning it. It’s like they weren't even talking about the same thing.

“But. You called me here?” Peeper says, dumbfounded.

“Yeah” Hater confirms warily. “I just wanted to say you were right.”

What?

“It is you room and I totally disrespected your privacy. Not cool on my part. I’ll knock from now on, promise. Probably. I mean I try.” Hater finished, looking down at his subordinate with worry. Peepers was way overreacting over this. Maybe watchdogs have some super taboo about not seeing each other naked. He really needed to get up on their culture and stuff.

Peepers started at hater even more confused. Hater was acting like he didn't see anything, like he didn’t even know what Peepers was talking about. Then it clicked.  
Hater didn’t know. Of course he didn’t. He was a skeleton. He didn’t have genitals (assumedly). He didn’t even know transgender was a thing.

“Ah thank you” peepers bluffs. “For, uh, clearing that up for me. You, uh, really put my mind at ease, sir”

Hater smiles and leans back, satisfied that he’d calmed Peepers.” no probs Peepers, I’m sorry for walking in on you”

“So, Lord Hater. On an entirely unrelated subject, how much do you know about watchdog biology?” Peepers asks.

“Uh, pft. Aside from that they’re battery eating eyeballs, uh nothing. Sorry” Hater says sheepishly

“Oh no, it's fine, sir” Peepers say, his assumptions confirmed. His mind was now truly at ease.

Watchdog biology. Another thing Hater needs to get on.


End file.
